Awakening
by Reinao Tanaka
Summary: A look back at what might have been. The tale of how Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto fell in love. Beware innocent smiles and insufferable clan heirs. Two-shot.
1. Chapter 1

A look back at what might have been.

This is the first part of a two-shot. This section is in Fugaku's viewpoint, and the second part will be in Mikoto's viewpoint.

Disclaimer: Naruto is property of Kishimoto-sama. I am just playing with his characters. However, Inuzuka Shikon is mine. All mine. Take that, Kishimoto-sama!  


* * *

Awakening

The first time they met, she made him cry.

She was only one at the time, and he a self-confident six year-old. His outo-san had taken him along on a visit to Uchiha Yoshiro, one of the clan elders. Yoshiro's granddaughter had been left in his care while both her parents were on a mission and in the adults' minds it made perfect sense to leave the two children together.

Once the door slid shut behind the men, Fugaku scowled at the little girl. She was crawling across the floor and...was that _drool_ running out of her mouth? He shuddered, taking a step away from her. She had been focused on catching the dust mites floating in the shafts of sunlight, but his motion drew her attention. Like a shark scenting blood, she moved toward him. A few feet away, she plopped onto her diaper-padded bottom and gave him the most charming, gap-toothed grin she could muster. He crossed his arms and scowled back at her. Her smile didn't waver. She held pudgy arms up toward him in appeal.

"Up," she demanded.

His scowl deepened and he shook his head in mute refusal. Her lower lip trembled in frustration at being denied and it was then that the war truly began. Apparently giving up, she crawled off to amuse herself.

"I can't believe otou-san left me here with a baby," the boy grumbled, turning his head to look toward the doorway.

He could, very faintly, hear the two adults conversing behind the thin paper door. He bit his lip for a moment in thought. His otou-san hadn't told him to stay put. Therefore, there was no harm in him doing a little reconnaissance. He eased toward the door, consciously lightening his footsteps and concealing his chakra.

He was half-way there when the first projectile collided with the back of his head. He spun just in time to be nailed in the nose by a stuffed animal. Fugaku managed to catch the next toy thrown his way, scowling at the baby on the other side of the room. She met his gaze with dark eyes that were wide and innocent. After a long, tense silence, she lifted her arms again.

"No!" the boy stated.

Her lip wobbled, a small whimper leaving her throat. Her dark eyes screwed shut and her mouth opened impossibly wide. Fugaku wasn't ready for the volume of the scream she created. How could such an ear-piercing noise come from such a tiny creature? He heard footsteps on the other side of the door and ran for his tiny cousin. He swooped the girl up in his arms.

Instantly, her wails stopped.

The door slid open and Yoshiro poked his head out. Fugaku could see his otou-san just behind the clan elder. Both of them looked disapprovingly at the children.

"Please keep Mikoto-chan quiet, Fugaku-kun," the elder said.

"Yes, Yoshiro-sama," the boy replied.

The two men nodded, apparently satisfied, though his father gave him one more warning glance before they shut the door behind them. Fugaku started to set the baby down, but the instant her feet touched the wooden floor, she started to whimper. He let out a sigh of frustration.

"You have to be quiet," he told her.

She looked up at him with those innocent eyes and he fell for it. He moved back toward the door and pressed his ear against it, directing chakra to his ear to hear what the adults were discussing.

"-Sounds like an excellent proposal, Yoshiro-san. After all, my son needs-" his otou-san was saying.

The boy's curiosity was piqued. They were talking about him? However, he didn't get to hear what he 'needed,' according to his otou-san, because a small hand was pulling at his shirt. He lifted his ear from the door to scowl at the girl.

"Fu..." she said.

"Quiet," he scolded.

He pressed his ear back against the thin paper. The two men were saying something about a contract that would be signed as soon as Yoshiro's son returned from his mission. The tiny hand was tugging at his shirt again, but he made the mistake of ignoring it. He had no warning before a hand was tangled in his hair and yanking at it. He yelped, dropping the baby. She still had her hold on his hair, so his head was jerked down sharply before the delicate strands gave way. They stared at each other, a chunk of his hair clutched tightly in her chubby hand. Tears of pain filled his eyes. The boy resolutely blinked them away, though one managed to escape and run down his cheek. He wouldn't let this girl see him cry.

Said girl, however, had no such compunction. Her eyes screwed shut a second time and she began to wail. The door slammed open in seconds and Yoshiro swept his granddaughter up in protective arms. Fugaku was spun to face his otou-san.

"What did you do to her?" his otou-san demanded.

"I...didn't..." he stammered.

His otou-san's dark eyes narrowed, burning Sharingan bright.

"Were you snooping, Fugaku?" he asked.

The boy debated the merit of trying to deceive his otou-san, but the throbbing in his skull convinced him that truth was the better path to take. He lowered his head.

"Yes," he said quietly.

"We'll discuss this when we get home," his otou-san stated.

Fugaku cast a glance toward Yoshiro and the baby. She had quieted down and was watching him with those innocent eyes that had fooled him so utterly. Seeing that she had his attention, she gave him another gap-toothed grin.

That was when Fugaku first began to suspect that girls--this one in particular--were evil.

----------

The next time they met, she made him frustrated.

He was eleven, nearly old enough to become a genin, while she was six and just now starting her ninja training. He had made plans to go to the training fields with some of is friends, when his otou-san informed him that he was expected to spend time with his cousin that afternoon. Thus, he was already in a black mood as he awaited her arrival just outside the door to his home.

To add insult to injury, she came bouncing down the sidewalk with her dark hair in pigtails. As soon as she saw him, she gave him that same innocent grin that had gotten him in so much trouble when they were younger.

"Hello!" she chirped.

"Hi," he returned in a more subdued manner.

Her smile faded slightly.

"What do you want to do?" she asked.

He shrugged. Her smile vanished completely, dark eyes narrowing as though she were sizing him for a coffin. He shifted uncomfortably at the look, only to straighten with indignation a moment later. No six year-old _girl_ was going to make the heir to the Uchiha clan uncomfortable!

"What would you be doing if I weren't here?" she asked.

He met her gaze head-on.

"Training with my friends," he said.

The smile was back. She snatched his hand with hers and tugged him toward the training fields.

"Let's go then!" she exclaimed.

'_Maybe this won't be so bad,'_ he thought grudgingly.

He would later come to realize that she was very talented at lulling him into a false sense of security.

Half an hour later, she was sitting in the grass watching him throwing kunai alongside several other boys his own age. A crown she had woven from daisies hung lopsidedly from her dark hair, though the matching bracelet had been discarded in the grass. He turned his gaze from her and threw another kunai, grunting in frustration as it flew wide of the bull's eye.

"You're releasing them too late," she said suddenly.

He didn't bother to glance back at her. His skull, where she had ripped out a portion of his hair last time he ignored her, began to throb. Inuzuka Shikon, however, did look back at her. His brown eyes glinted with mischief.

"Like you could throw them any better, little girl," he teased.

Her nose lifted into the air.

"As a matter of fact, I could," she stated.

The boys, save for Fugaku, all guffawed. The Uchiha was feeling a sense of doom as his friends all crowded around the girl. Shikon dramatically brandished a kunai, bowing over it as he presented it to the girl.

"I beg you to show us your superior skill..." he hesitated, lifting an eyebrow.

"Uchiha Mikoto," she supplied.

"Mikoto-chan," the Inuzuka finished.

She took the kunai from him and primly rose, brushing grass from her skirt. She had to hold the large weapon in two delicate hands as she readied herself to throw it. Behind her, the boys were snickering and elbowing each other. There was no way this little girl could throw such a heavy weapon so far, let alone actually hit the center of the target. Mikoto ignored them. She threw her body into the motion and the kunai whizzed from her hands.

The training field fell silent as the kunai thunked directly into the center of the target. She turned to the awe-struck boys with that same innocent smile.

"Child's play," she said.

Shikon was the first to move.

"That was amazing, Mikoto-chan!" he said.

Fugaku's other friends obviously agreed, for training was forgotten as they all gathered around the tiny girl. Fugaku was left alone to sulk. He would never admit that he was also impressed.

That was when Fugaku became certain that females were evil.

----------

The next time they met, she made him speechless.

Fugaku and Shikon were sitting together at Ichiraku's, a ramen stand that had recently opened. The Inuzuka was digging happily into his food, occasionally tossing bits down to the massive dog that sat beside him. Fugaku was eating his meal in a more restrained manner, often pausing to twirl noodles around his chopsticks. Shikon set his empty bowl aside and reached over with his chopsticks to swipe some of his teammate's food. Without even glancing toward the other teenager, Fugaku's chopsticks caught Shikon's. The Inuzuka extended his lower lip in a pout.

"Come on, Fugaku. You're just letting it get cold," he whined.

Stubbornly, the Uchiha clan heir finished off his ramen and set the bowl aside. Shikon was watching him closely and, when his friend continued to stare blankly at the countertop, he nudged him in the side.

"So...?" he urged.

Fugaku sighed heavily.

"My father is pushing me to get married again," he mumbled.

"Well, you are twenty-three. It's past time you find someone and start popping out little red-eyed babies," the Inuzuka said cheerfully.

Fugaku slanted a look toward his friend, Sharingan gleaming behind his onyx eyes.

"That is just plain disturbing," he stated.

Shikon shrugged, undisturbed by the flare of killing intent from the Uchiha. He had made an art of irritating his teammate to the edge of snapping, but no further. His grin widened, exposing razor-sharp canines.

"How about Mi-chan? I heard she's supposed to be coming back from her mission soon," he said.

Fugaku recoiled, unable to restrain a shudder. Marry the bane of his existence? Kami forbid that should ever happen. He summoned up a picture of her as he had last seen her two years ago. Although sixteen, she still possessed the body of a child and the wit of someone far older. She had been lecturing him on basic taijutsu moves--apparently his were sloppy. A few days after that, she had left on a mission as one of the ambassadors to Cloud. Truth to tell, he had not missed her a single day of the two years she had been gone.

Wordlessly, he pulled out money to cover their bill and set it down on the counter before sliding off his stool. Shikon hurried after him as he strode away from the ramen stand. He laid a hand on the Uchiha's shoulder.

"Hold up a minute, Fugaku. I didn't really mean that," he apologized.

Fugaku mustered up a slight smile for his friend.

"Yeah...it's just that the elders are really pushing me on this," he said.

Shikon nodded in understanding. Admittedly, the Inuzuka clan was much more laid back than the Uchiha, but clan politics were clan politics no matter how laid back they might be. He could see the strain now, etching lines onto a face far too young for such worries. But that was the life of a ninja, the life of a clan heir.

"You'll find someone," he assured his friend.

They continued toward the Uchiha compound, a silence born of long years of friendship falling between them. Shikon didn't need words to know that Fugaku was simply grateful to know that someone was supporting him--not that the proud man would ever openly admit such a thing. His nose twitched as he caught a familiar scent. He was about to remark on it when his friend stopped dead in his tracks. Shikon followed his gaze toward a young woman walking a short distance ahead of them.

She was clothed entirely in black, from her heeled sandals to pants and a shirt that were tight enough to suggest generous curves. Her long, dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail so that it half-concealed the red and white fan on the back of her shirt. As though sensing their gaze, she turned to face them. Her features were delicate and refined. Dark eyes that were too large for her face spoke of innocence, yet her perusal of them was cold and completely professional.

She was the most beautiful woman Fugaku had ever seen.

Then Shikon opened his mouth and broke the spell, "Mi-chan!"

A smile spread across full lips. She threw herself at the Inuzuka, hugging him tightly.

"Shi-kun!" she returned.

Fugaku's face paled. There was only one person who had ever called his teammate by that name.

But this beautiful woman couldn't be...

She stepped back from Shikon, her dark eyes turning to him.

"Is that really you, Fugaku?" she asked.

"Mikoto?" he questioned.

She nodded, smile fading from her face until she was again the reserved beauty he had been gaping at.

"It is good to see you both," she said, sparing a smile for the Inuzuka before turning and walking away.

Shikon glanced at his dumbstruck friend, baring his fangs in a grin.

"What was that you were saying?" he teased.

Fugaku was staring after her. Was it possible for someone to change so much in two years? She actually didn't seem that bad. Certainly she was beautiful, and she appeared to have matured since he last saw her. If he had to get married anyway...

Maybe females weren't as evil as he had always thought they were.

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Please review and let me know what you thought of this!


	2. Chapter 2

And here is the second part of this two-shot. It's mostly from Mikoto's view, though there is a bit in Fugaku's at the end. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-sama.

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The last time they met, he had broken her heart. Actually, when she thought back on it, it seemed he broke her heart every time she saw him. To this day, Mikoto couldn't explain what it was that she saw in Uchiha Fugaku. He was too arrogant, too taciturn, too…

Too _male_.

It wasn't like he was the most handsome man in the Uchiha clan either, even if he was the heir. His face was too broad, his eyes too close together, the lines on his face too deep for a man of twenty-three. He was also frowning nearly all the time, which was off-putting to say the least.

He was, however, the man her grandfather had engaged her to when she was just a baby. She had known since she was five and eavesdropping on one of her parent's conversations, but she was positive that Fugaku was still oblivious. Honestly, she didn't know how the man had ever managed to graduate from the ninja academy.

And he was also someone that she had been drawn to her entire life, even though he persisted in ignoring or belittling her. Mikoto was not a person who took well to being ignored and her efforts to draw his attention had only seemed to make him hate her. So she had decided to accept a two year mission out of the Fire Country in order to avoid him and get a grip on feelings that would never be reciprocated.

Mikoto had flirted with quite a few Cloud ninjas, dated a handful of the best of the lot, and broken their hearts when she got bored. She had left Cloud feeling rather proud of herself. She hadn't thought of Fugaku in months…well, at least for weeks. But then she ran into Fugaku the very same day she arrived back in Konoha and all her unwanted feelings had come cascading back when she saw him gaping at her like she was an angel just arrived from heaven. After he recognized her, his expression had closed off. She hadn't been able to read him then, even after knowing him her entire life. Mikoto had responded in kind, bidding him farewell and stalking away.

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The next day, the idiot showed up at the door of her parents' house. And her mother ushered him in with a wide grin on her face, not realizing that she was inviting the devil inside what had been Mikoto's sanctuary. Within minutes, the four of them—her parents, Mikoto, and Fugaku—were all seated around their table as Mikoto poured tea for everyone.

"It's such a surprise to see you here, Fugaku-san," her mother gushed.

The clan heir had the grace to look rather taken aback by her mother's exuberance. Mikoto smirked at him when he glanced toward her. He would get no help from the one he had scorned all this time.

"I was…ah…hoping to speak with Mikoto-chan," he said.

"Oh, you were, were you?" her mother said with a sly glance toward her father, who was also smiling now.

Mikoto resisted the urge to run and hide when Fugaku looked bewildered. He was going to ask her to explain her parents' behavior when he finally got her alone. Mikoto began plotting what excuse she would give him, tuning out the conversation.

"-wedding kimono. You are going to love it on her, Fugaku-san," her mother was saying when she started listening again.

Mikoto's dark eyes widened and she looked quickly toward the clan heir. Was it her imagination, or was he actually blushing? Maybe she would have to help him out, but only because she was helping herself in the process. She shot to her feet.

"Fugaku-san and I need to go talk about…ninja stuff," she blurted, heading for the door.

Fugaku drained his cup of tea and hurried after her. He caught up with ridiculous ease, since he was much taller than her petite figure. He looked down at her, completely composed while she now felt horribly embarrassed. It just wasn't fair.

"What was that about?" he asked.

"Nothing. My mother was just being…" she sighed, "Meddlesome. You know how it is."

Fugaku looked away from her.

"I do," he agreed quietly.

She actually stopped walking, so shocked that he knew how she felt. He stopped a few feet ahead of her, turning to face her with a raised eyebrow. She blushed and quickly got herself moving again. She stared at the ground, marshalling her weakened defenses. She was not going to let this man break her heart again!

"I was hoping we could train together sometime," Fugaku said.

There, her walls were back in place. He sounded so stuffy asking that! The man would fit in well with the clan elders. She snorted, not caring that it ruined her elegant exterior.

"Have you fixed that sloppy taijutsu stance yet?" she asked.

She sensed him stiffen beside her, even though his expression remained bland.

"It was fine," he stated.

"It was sloppy. I could beat you with both hands tied behind my back, unless you've improved it since I left. A weak stance is like a tree that's rotten inside. Even if its exterior is intimidating, a well-placed blow will make it topple," she said.

She had made him angry with that. A small smirk curved her lips. She was feeling completely in control again now.

"Let's spar then, Mikoto-chan," he said.

She sighed, but nodded before glancing up at him.

"Sure. Just don't waste too much of my time," she said.

His eyes burned with the brightness of the Sharingan even though he did not summon the clan doujutsu. Her smirk only widened as she led him out to one of the training fields. Stretching lazily, she glanced over at him. He was standing there with his arms crossed across his chest, that ever-present frown on his face.

Oh yes, she was going to enjoy this.

"Taijutsu only?" she asked.

He nodded stiffly.

Mikoto shifted suddenly from her stretch, lashing out with a kick that would have nailed him squarely on the chin if he hadn't fallen back. She continued with a furious onslaught. Her body was fluid grace as she moved, each move blending into the next and all designed to force him into making a target of himself. Fugaku relied more on the strength of his blows to win over his opponent, but Mikoto refused to stay still long enough for him to connect. She would be out of the game if he did land a blow, for she couldn't deny that he was powerful. But power wasn't everything.

Since she was watching for it, she easily saw the flaw in his stance. In two years, it seemed he had not made even one effort to correct it. She slid in close, feinted a strike toward his shoulder, then dropped low and swept her foot through both of his. He fell hard and she followed him down. Her fingertips put just enough pressure at his windpipe to warn him not to rise.

Their eyes locked. His chest was heaving, while she was not even panting yet. He would always be stronger than her and have a greater amount of chakra, but he was not invincible.

"And so the mighty oak falls," she said, taking her hand away.

His eyes lit with anger…anger mixed with something else. Before she could discern what it was, he tilted his head up and kissed her. She jerked her head away from his, dark eyes wide. Her breathing, so calm but a moment before, had now turned ragged. He dared smirk at her, his own expression bordering on triumphant. She might have won the battle, but he seemed to think he had won the war. Mikoto didn't hesitate when she drew back her hand and slapped him across the cheek. His head jerked to the side with the force of the blow. He turned his head back to her, expression turned carefully blank.

"Don't ever do that again," she hissed, rising to her feet.

She looked away from him, finally registering the presence of another ninja. Inuzuka Shikon, her friend and Fugaku's old teammate, was standing there gaping at them. Her face turned bright red with shame. She hurried away, heading back toward her home.

"That is no way to win a woman's heart," she heard Shikon say as she left the training field behind.

If she ever saw Uchiha Fugaku again, she would kill him. Or kiss him silly. But that would fall under her allowing him to break her heart and since she had sworn never to do that again, it seemed that she would just have to kill him.

----------

Only, he was smart enough not to face her again immediately after the incident at the training field. Instead, her mother entered her bedroom the next day with an armload of roses. The older woman was smiling as she placed them in her daughter's lap.

"These just arrived for you," she said, "And there's a card too."

Mikoto removed the card from the fragrant bouquet, noting that it had already been opened. Her mother truly was a busybody, at least when it came to her (nonexistent) relationship with the clan heir.

'Sorry about yesterday. Shikon thought these might make you forgive me. –Fugaku'

She forced herself to put the card back in its envelope without crumpling it and smiled sweetly at her mother.

"Thank you for bringing these to me, kaasan," she said.

Needless to say, later that day Fugaku's gift was returned to him. The flowers were nothing but burned up stems and, on the other side of the crumpled card, Mikoto had written her own message.

'Shikon was wrong –Mikoto'

The next day it was chocolates.

These were not returned, but Fugaku did find a shuriken outside his home with a note requesting that he leave Mikoto alone, signed by the kunoichi herself.

The day after that it was a matching set of kunai.

Fugaku woke up the next morning with a kunai on either side of his head. The gift box was on his chest and the note it contained was less polite than the first two. It suggested that he would lose the capability of producing heirs if he continued his pursuit when the maiden in question was not interested.

He responded by sending a bag of diapers along with the obligatory note.

'Go ahead. You're the only one I would want to bear my heirs. –Fugaku'

When he awakened the next morning with all body parts intact, he dared to buy an engagement ring and go see her. Mikoto greeted him at the door—in full view of her parents—by hurling a handful of diapers in his face. He smiled. She scowled. It was a strange reversal of their habitual expressions.

"What kind of gift is that?" she hissed.

"It got your attention, didn't it?" he responded. He dropped to one knee as he continued, "But if it didn't, maybe this will. Mikoto, I want you to marry me."

He held out the engagement ring to her.

"You stupid man," she said.

He blinked, feeling suddenly quite deflated. That was not the reaction he had been hoping for from the beautiful woman.

"We're already engaged," she added.

"We're…what?" he said.

"We've been engaged since you were six and I was one," she explained.

So, that was what the meeting between Uchiha Yoshiro, her grandfather, and his own father concerning his future had been about. It also explained why her parents had been so thrilled when he came courting.

"Well, now I'm asking for myself. Marry me?" he asked.

Mikoto's dark eyes suddenly glistened with suspicious tears. He was actually asking her. She had never thought he would ask. Instead, she imagined their wedding as a grudging affair with him having no choice but to marry her.

"Are you going to break my heart, Fugaku?" she whispered.

He glanced awkwardly at her parents, who were watching the scene intently, and stepped closer. His own voice lowered as he took her hands in his.

"Never," he said simply, then kissed her.

He was such a man…such an arrogant, antisocial, idiotic male. But he was her man and that was all that mattered to Mikoto as she allowed him to slide the engagement ring onto her finger.

In the background, she could hear her mother sobbing tears of joy.

* * *

And there it is, the conclusion to this little two-shot. It's a bit weak, I feel, since I'm out of practice, but I hope everyone enjoys it.


End file.
